A Few Insights

A Few Insights

In late September, I had the privilege of attending a lecture by Carmen Beauchamp Ciparick, Senior Associate Judge of the New York Court of Appeals. Aside from being in awe of the fact that a New York Court of Appeals judge was less than ten feet away from me and that Cyrus Vance, Manhattan District Attorney was twenty feet away (I guess you could say that I was a little star struck) it was fascinating to get an insight into the decision making process at the highest judicial level in the state of New York.

Attending the lecture highlights an important aspect that is essential for enjoying my fellowship opportunity, and that is taking advantage of every opportunity whether or not it is PP55 related. Last week, for example, a representative from Harvard Law School came to talk specifically to prospective students at the Manhattan District Attorney's Office. While I am still a little hesitant to say that I am applying to HLS, mostly because of the intimidating factor of the prestigiousness associated with HLS, it was helpful listening to the representative and thinking about what characteristics to look for in a law school and how to write a strong application.

That week was exceptionally exciting since we also had to actually evacuate for a fire alarm (normally we are told to simply disregard that ear-splitting siren...as if that were even possible), and then had a blackout in the office that sent everyone home early.

October has not been nearly as eventful, but I have come to the conclusion that due to the amount of paperwork that our bureau goes through every day, some pro-environmentalists might have a serious issue with our paperwork management system. More importantly, I now know why government is not as quick to respond as private enterprises. Hopefully I will have more to report in November. As for now, I am simply looking forward to the upcoming holiday season.